There's a new iPad wannabe on the way. And this one is perhaps more like the iPad than any other would-be iPad killer. In fact, this touch-controlled tablet product from Axon Logic has been rightfully dubbed a 'Hackintosh' by anyone who has ever touched an Apple product. Basically, what we have here is a new tablet PC replete with a stealthy - or "hidden" - EFI partition for a simple OS X install.

According to Axon Logic, "you have the choice of easily choosing which OS you want to boot up to - whether you want Linux one day or Windows the next. Of course, we suspect that you'll be using Darwin the most. We've installed Darwin (kernal and system specific kexts) on a hidden EFI partition. That means you can effortlessly install your favorite Darwin OS, such as Pure Darwin. Just plug in the DVD drive (or Flash Drive), install, and then reboot."

Available now for preorder, this tablet is a controversial offering for sure. As we all know, installing OS X on any product or device that isn't specifically from Apple is a brainless breach of the license agreement. So Axon Logic is "strongly advising against" anyone doing what we all know those with this particular tablet will certainly do.

At the end of the day, I'm not so sure a $750 hackintosh is such a good idea. And it appears I'm not alone in my thinking, given other tablet aficionados/modders I've spoken with today. But wherever there is a tablet of this kind, there will all but certainly be some buyers - we just don't know yet how many. But, chances are, one of the biggest driving factors of initial sales will be the length of time this device is allowed to exist before lawsuits potentially start flying and the Axon Logic hackintosh is possibly gone for good.

you would have to carry around a keyboard at all times to use it? the idea of using snow leopard, windows 7 or ubuntu on a tablet is very intriguing, but i kinda like my dell mini cause it's not much different and has built in keyboard.

would there be an app for having a keyboard that can utilize the touchscreen? if so, I'd give serious thought to buying one of these

A HDD really?? That thing will be dead in short order if you try to use the tablet naturally. WTF. A large SDD would do just fine, and would then allow the device to actually be moved and used at the same time.

you would have to carry around a keyboard at all times to use it? the idea of using snow leopard, windows 7 or ubuntu on a tablet is very intriguing, but i kinda like my dell mini cause it's not much different and has built in keyboard.

would there be an app for having a keyboard that can utilize the touchscreen? if so, I'd give serious thought to buying one of these

OSX has the onscreen keyboard built-in. They even changed the layout and made it more 'finger friendly' in 10.6.
Apple Menu > System Preferences > Language & Text > Input Sources Tab. Select 'Show Input menu in menu bar'.
Now from the menu bar click on the keyboard icon and select 'Show Keyboard Viewer' from drop down. Expanded it would work very nicely with finger or stylus input.